Overview

It is essential that the student works with the thesis director early on to develop the guidelines for the undergraduate thesis project.

A Senior Honors Thesis Must Demonstrate:

• Substantial research-based argumentation (with all the accompanying effective incorporation, analysis, and synthesis and citation of sources)
• Quality organization and prose
• Professional formatting

Attention English Majors: The first step for all English majors is to complete the English Department Thesis Director Form and submit it to the English Director of Upper Division Studies alongside the Verification of Eligibility Form.

Completing a Thesis in the Research Humanities or Social Sciences

The Senior Honors Thesis in humanities and social science disciplines is typically envisioned and executed entirely as a written piece of work. This kind of thesis might resemble a long research paper in form, but it is different than a class paper. It tackles a problem that others have not yet addressed adequately, or it approaches the problem from a new angle. Research into what others have said and done is the essential first step, but your thesis should go beyond prior work to include your own insights and critical thinking. You should have an acquaintance with the relevant scholarship and display originality in the formulation of your arguments. Typically, such a thesis will run 50-75 pages.

Working with Human Subjects: If your research proposal includes working with human subjects, please discuss with your faculty mentor if your research will require approval from the University's Institutional Review Board (IRB) prior to initiating your research.

Completing a Thesis in Creative Writing

The creative writing thesis is typically envisioned as a written piece of work that has two main components: 1) critical introduction, and 2) original creative writing in a single genre (poetry, short fiction, creative non-fiction, novella, portion of a novel), the bulk of which is created after the approval of the thesis prospectus.

While the length of the creative writing section depends largely on the genre and nature of your project, some suggested guideposts include: a poetry collection (30 pages); a short story collection, creative non-fiction, play, or novella (60 pages); a portion of a novel (80 pages including a detailed outline of the rest of the work). More important than length is the quality of thought and writing. The critical introduction must be 15-20 pages. The central aim of this introduction is to situate your creative writing project within the artistic traditions you are engaging in.

Deadlines and Procedures

CLASS senior honors thesis students will submit to Dr. Rikki Bettinger in the Honors College for formatting and content check, prior to the final upload. CLASS students will not submit to the CLASS Dean’s office.

Please use the UH Graduate School template for the front matter. Submit your signed Thesis Defense and Final Evaluation form and your revised thesis following your defense to Dr. Rikki Bettinger in the Honors College for review of formatting and content by December 1 or April 28 of the semester you defend.

The thesis defense form and directions for submitting the final approved thesis to the Honors College can be found on the Defense and Graduation page. After your thesis is checked and approved by Dr. Bettinger, the final thesis must be submitted to the Senior Honors Thesis Electronic Submission Form by the last day of the term.

There are no bound copies of the thesis required for the Honors College. However, all students who complete the senior honors thesis are welcome to submit a bound copy to the Honors College for display in the Estess Library.

Thesis Representatives

Dr. Rikki Bettinger
Senior Honors Thesis Director
rrbettin@central.uh.edu